


An Unexpected Encounter

by Lightbringer34



Category: Dishonored (Video Games)
Genre: I think the Outsider enjoys being a cryptic bastard, M/M, and also flirting, humans aren't meant to see all of you, which can be a problem for an eldritch whale-god
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:02:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25250560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lightbringer34/pseuds/Lightbringer34
Summary: The Outsider has some things to say, and Corvo will hear them.
Relationships: Corvo Attano/The Outsider (Dishonored)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 84





	An Unexpected Encounter

Corvo Attano was having a bad day. Technically he had been having a bad year, but in comparison to six months in Coldridge Prison, this was heaven. Still, he’d almost forgotten how tiring being the Lord Protector was. 

He’d forgotten the early days of Jessamine’s reign, when the nobles chafed under her rule, the Morley Rebellion was barely behind them, and the positioning of a Serkonnan to the post of Lord Protector was the scandal to end all scandals. Emily was now undergoing the same crucible her mother had and he cursed himself for having forgotten about it. If Havelock, Martin, and Pendleton had stayed loyal and not made their mad grab for power, everything would have been considerably easier, but it was not to be. Corvo shook his head and continued his aimless stroll along the rooftops of Dunwall.

Emily was sleeping soundly, surrounded by the best of the Watch, men Corvo and Geoff Curnow had hand-picked for their loyalty and skill, so Corvo felt justified in taking a night off, even if it was a short one. He’d discarded the long cloak and garments of the Royal Protector and instead favored a loose-fitting white shirt and an new pair of pants Piero had fashioned for him. The material was light blue and unfamiliar to the bodyguard, but was proving surprisingly durable to the stone, metal, and tile of Dunwall. Unfortunately, it had pockets that he could barely fit his hands into and were thus of limited use. 

Corvo absently raised a hand and Blinked across a gap in the roof ahead of him, deep in thought. He just wanted to get away, far from the perfume of the nobles, the stress of his job, and the endless piles of reports that Sokolov and Piero plied him with as they cured and documented the city’s citizens, creating a census of the surviving populace of Dunwall.

So it was that the Lord Protector was so deep in thought he failed to notice the frail boards covering the large rotting hole in the tiles ahead of him. He fell through with an undignified squawk and an almighty crash, landing flat on his back with the wind knocked out of him. As he struggled to force air back into his lungs, he noticed the room he had landed in was bathed in the purple light of whale oil lamps. A light he knew quite well.

Corvo jacknifed to his feet, Piero’s trusty collapsible blade sliding out of his sleeve and into his hand, the length of metal springing into being with a whisper of metal. But there were no enemies lunging at him with weapons drawn. Instead there was a sleeping young woman and an impressively intricate shrine to the Outsider.

Corvo lowered his blade carefully and fixed the woman with a Look, assessing her current position, the likelihood that she was in fact awake and had festooned herself with weapons. He mentally rated her Threat Level Hagfish, and turned slightly to study the shrine.

It was significantly less haphazard than others he had seen and appeared to be built with semi-professional pride and inscribed with hundreds of small marks, none of which looked familiar. The overall effect was as if this girl had found a brand of the Outsider’s Mark and burned it repeatedly into the wooden support struts until the individual symbols became lost in a flowing mass of blackened wood. But the dignity of the architect was intact. The walls were gently covered by deep blue curtains, hiding the purple whalelight from the outside world. Corvo noticed a large golden statue of a whale in the corner and narrowed his eyes. He distinctly remembered seeing that statue at the Boyle estate, and if he remembered correctly this was the one that-

PBRRRRT!

The front of the whale statue exploded outward with an obnoxious noise and far more confetti than Corvo was comfortable with. It tangled in his hair and he felt a few strands slip down the front of his shirt. The Lord Protector reflexively swung his blade at the offending object, only to find it halted by one long, pale white finger.

oh shit.

Corvo backed up and rapidly ordered his senses as the room began of fill with black smoke. He upgraded the current situation to Threat Level Whale God and swallowed heavily. 

It started as a low chuckle that Corvo could feel in his bones and it expanded until his entire world was the blackness and the noise of a laughing god. He dropped to his knees and pressed his hands to his ears, which began to flow blood. It was too much, too much, toomuch toomuchtoomuch-he felt the laughter drop off, drifting into the background and fading until it was indistinguishable from the soft singing of the Rune he now held in his hand.

The pale white hand that had placed it there trailed its way up and picked one of the single pieces of gold confetti out of his hair. Corvo took a deep breath and looked up into the eyes of the Outsider.Those eyes never failed to hold his attention, no matter how many visits the Outsider made, they were never the same. There was always some new mote of color, some subtle movement beneath the surface of those black eyes that held his gaze. With a start, Corvo realized the Outsider was smiling. Or perhaps it was a smirk.

“My dear Corvo. So good to see you have finally found my shrine keep. I had often wondered if you would meet, and what the outcome would be. You are quite a popular figure these days you know. Nobles wishing to shake your hand and commoners sharing stories down at the Hound Pits.” The god shook his head in bemusement. “Even my devoted have begun to look up to you, though it is perhaps inevitable. They say you have created a new path for them to follow, one with far fewer corpses on it.” The Outsider sighed and Corvo caught a glimpse of small lights behind the slightly pointed teeth. “As if that will please me any more than libations of hound’s blood. You wouldn’t know it Corvo, but there are a group of hermits in Tyvia who have denied themselves as many aspects of the physical world as possible, as punishment for long ago consuming human flesh.”

Corvo raised his eyebrows. This was news to him. “And how’s that working out. Have they grown boring yet?” The Outsider waved one arm towards the North, then folded it back in front of him, a flicker of amusement in his eyes. “They aren’t quite finished yet. They’ve let their hunger overcome all other aspects of their minds. One hungers for flesh, another for sex, and the last for the caress of lightning. It should be quite the show, depending on how they choose to end themselves. They sought residency of the Void, and they shall have it one way or another. But I digress.”

The whale god floated over to the shrine and its keeper, brushing one strand of the woman’s hair back into place. “You never wanted my Gift Corvo, and yet you use it so well. She and hundreds like her leave gifts or build monuments in my name, and their faith has turned this world’s fortunes more than once. But you had no faith and you have raised an empire from the brink of destruction.”

The Outsider bent and kissed the shrine keep’s brow and Corvo shuddered. The movement was so unnatural, so profoundly practiced and wrong he felt a small piece of his soul detach itself screaming and fling itself into the Void, anything to get away from the sight before his eyes.

Now the Outsider was staring directly into his eyes, closer than he had ever been before and the blackness behind him writhed like a dog on the end of its chain. Small letters on metal squares and carved wooden sculptures danced behind the whale god’s head and Corvo found himself at a loss for words.

“Do you imagine that the faith you have now is in any way greater or more profound than these supplicants? What will you do now that the Empress is safe within Dunwall Tower? Will you continue to mutter the Seven Scriptures, abandon the gifts I have given you, or will you build me a shrine like all the others in the secret places of the Tower?”

Corvo felt the Outsider’s lips brush his own. “Regardless, I look forward to the results.” With a rasp, the shadows and smoke of the Outsider’s presence rushed past the bodyguard and blinded him for a moment. He heard the flutter of wings and when he opened his eyes, the room was empty but for him and the Rune he held in his hand.

In spite of himself, Corvo felt a grin cross his face. He needed to get back to the Tower. There was work to be done and for once, he was looking forward to it. 


End file.
